Department of the Interior March 16, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) and Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service (Director) seek nominations for individuals to be considered for membership in the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council (Council). The Council advises the Secretary, through the Director, on aquatic conservation endeavors that benefit recreational fishery resources and recreational boating and that encourage partnerships among industry, the public, Native American tribes, States, and the Federal Government.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), designate critical habitat for the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius luteus) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). In total, we designate an area of approximately 5,657 hectares (13,973 acres) along 272.4 kilometers (169.3 miles) of flowing streams, ditches, and canals as critical habitat in eight units within Colfax, Mora, Otero, Sandoval, and Socorro Counties in New Mexico; Las Animas, Archuleta, and La Plata Counties in Colorado; and Greenlee and Apache Counties in Arizona. The effect of this rule is to designate critical habitat for the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse under the Act.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces the availability of a draft revised recovery plan for the Northern Great Plains piping plover population. This population is federally listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The Service solicits review and comment from the public on this draft revised plan.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will file the plat of survey of the lands described below in the BLM-Eastern States, Washington, DC at least 30 calendar days from the date of publication in the Federal Register.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce 90- day findings on various petitions to list, reclassify, or delist fish, wildlife, or plants under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). Based on our review, we find that 13 petitions do not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted, and we are not initiating status reviews in response to these petitions. We refer to these as ``not-substantial'' petition findings. We also find that 16 petitions present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this document, we announce that we plan to initiate a review of the status of these species to determine if the petitioned actions are warranted. To ensure that these status reviews are comprehensive, we are requesting scientific and commercial data and other information regarding these species. Based on the status reviews, we will issue 12-month findings on the petitions, which will address whether the petitioned action is warranted, as provided in section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act.